Peanut butter cup cupcakes

Don't get your hopes up too high, these cupcakes were made to taste like a peanut butter cup, but they don't actually have a peanut butter cup in them (just in case you were still thinking about those killer Ferraro Rocher cupcakes I made recently).

Almost everyone loves the classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate, and I thought that making it into a cupcake would be delicious!  I even topped them with two different sizes of mini peanut butter cups, for the added oomph of peanut butter cup-iness!

These cupcakes really don't even need any more of an introduction.  I strongly recommend you try them.  Now.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Cupcakes assembled by yours truly.
Cupcake recipe originally from here.
Icing from here.

For the cupcakes:

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

For the icing:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Mini peanut butter cups, for topping

Directions:

Make the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350F (325 if using a nonstick pan).
Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a medium heat proof bowl.
Set bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, and heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted.
Whisk until smooth and combined.
(You could do this in the microwave, but this time I actually used a double boiler!)
Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

Whisk eggs in another bowl.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture.
Whisk until combined.
Sift about 1/3 of the flour mixture over and whisk until batter is thick and fully incorporated.
Add sour cream and mix until incorporated.
Add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Batter will be thick.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Place cupcakes on a wire rack.
Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the frosting.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and Kosher salt with a mixer set to high, until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.
Add heavy cream.
Once combined, taste for flavor.  Add more peanut butter as needed.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Place icing in a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip.
Pipe icing onto cupcakes, and top with mini peanut butter cups.

Scotcheroo bites

As someone who has been blogging about my baking for nearly four years (JulieBakes' birthday is 10/16!!), I've read a lot of other food blogs to find the best recipes to make for you guys. Lately, there have been lots of Scotcheroo recipes. Which is funny because I had never really heard of tem before, but once I started reading them, I realized they were the same as the 'peanut chews' we get as gifts at work sometimes (and which I cannot, for the life of me, stop eating, no matter how diet unfriendly they are).  So I knew I kinda had to make them.  It was only a matter of time...

Scotcheroos are usually made into bars, like Rice Krispie treats, and are topped with a milk chocolate or a milk chocolate-butterscotch topping.  Then I saw this recipe for what they called Scotcheroo Millionaire Nuggets. Or basically a Scotcheroo truffle - the peanut butter-Rice Krispie mixture is shaped into balls and allowed to harden before being dipped in the same chocolately topping as is used on the bars.  And I even made some like that.  But because I don't love butterscotch and because I found a caramel flavored milk chocolate, I used a mixture of regular and caramel milk chocolate, but it ended up being too soft and started melting the minute B held one to take a bite.  So instead I drizzled some of the bites with the chocolate mixture to add some delicious flavor but to also make them less messy to eat!  But honestly, it's because I personally prefer them sans chocolate (which is weird for me, a self-proclaimed chocoholic!).

I have to say that these are so tasty that I was snacking on them all day while I baked some other treats for you!

Scotcheroo Millionaire Nuggets
From Oh, Sweet Basil

Ingredients:

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal (Mine were a bit runny, so I added an extra 1/2 cup of cereal)
6 oz milk chocolate (or 12 oz if not using butterscotch, see below)
6 oz butterscotch chips

Directions:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, pour in the corn syrup and sugar.
Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, until clear and the sugar is totally dissolved.
Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth.

In a large bowl, add the cereal and pour the peanut butter mixture in.
Gently fold to combine.
Set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool (or a bit longer, hot sticky peanut butter syrup stuck on your hands is not pleasant....trust me!).

Lay wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Begin rolling the cereal-peanut butter mixture into balls.
Set aside on cookie sheet to cool entirely.

Meanwhile, in a glass measuring up or bowl, melt the chocolate and butterscotch (if using) until smooth.

One at a time, drop the balls into the chocolate mixture.
Using a fork, roll it around to coat it and then lift it out, tapping the sides gently to allow excess chocolate to drip off.
Place on cookie sheet.
Repeat until all are coated in chocolate.
Store in a cool place to allow the chocolate to harden.

Store in airtight containers (if they last that long!!!). 

Triple peanut butter chewy dark chocolate cookies

The majority of my life is spent making rationale, logical, evidence-based decisions.  I do it in my work life, for sure.  And mostly in my personal life, too (there are a few -- a very, very few -- times when I throw caution to the wind and just "do" [which is usually followed by buyer's remorse, but nice new shoes....but I digress]).  Tonight, however, was not one of those nights.

I got out of work at a decent hour.  Met my sisters for dinner, and we were even able to move our plans earlier.  Took some food to go for B, ran an errand, and dropped the food off at his place (he's working on a huge project now, but I knew he needed to eat!).  Then I got home, a little after 9 p.m., and did I stop for a second and relax?  Nope.  Did I hop in the shower?  Nope (that was later on).  I made some cookie dough and baked some cookies!  Which normally wouldn't have been too insane, but I do have to be at work at 8 a.m. tomorrow and that does mean that I have to leave my apartment a little before 6:30 a.m.  But again, here I am going off on a tangent...

Let me tell you about these cookies.  I used the chewy dark chocolate cookie base from one of the most amazing cookies ever, these Chewy Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips.  But then I didn't stop there, I decided to mix things up a bit.  And thus the Triple Peanut Butter Chewy Dark Chocolate Cookies were born!  I added 3 different kinds of peanut butter goodness to these cookies: Reese's Pieces, Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, AND Peanut Butter Chips!  They were AMAZING!!

Triple Peanut Butter Chewy Dark Chocolate Cookies
Based on these amazing cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's)
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (they come unwrapped in a bag)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition.
Add the salt and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
Gradually add to the butter mixture.
Fold in the peanut butter cups, pieces, and chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until fluffy but still soft.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Halloween treat #2: Halloween bark

I made Halloween bark last week.  I loved it because (a) it was easy, (b) I could make it any way I wanted, (c) it was super cute, and (d) well, it came out totally adorable!

The best, best, best part of this?  There isn't really even a recipe.  Just grab some chocolate, candies of your choosing, and some candy eyes.  That's it!  (P.S. I totally didn't come up with this, and there is an official "recipe" found here...but I just winged it a bit.)

Chocolate Halloween Bark
From Just A Taste

Ingredients:

3 cups buttersweet chocolate chips
2 cups assorted candy, cut into bite sized pieces and some left whole.  I used:
     Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into quarters (easiest to do if they're cold)
     Kit-Kats, left whole
     Peanut Butter M&Ms
     Candy eyes (I bought mine years ago online, but you can buy them at Michael's)

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring until smooth.  If using the microwave, do it in 30 second bursts, to make sure you don't burn the chocolate.

Pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it into an even layer with a spatula.  It should be about 1/4-inch thick.
Sprinkle the candy on top of the chocolate.
Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill for 30-45 minutes until the chocolate has fully hardened.

Remove from the fridge.
Carefully slide it onto a cutting board.
Cut the bark into irregularly shaped pieces.
Serve immediately, or store in an air-tight container in a cool place.

Peanut butter monster cookie bars

About ten days ago -- actually, MORE THAN TEN WHOLE DAYS AGO!! -- I decided to make some peanut butter monster cookie bars.  I just felt like having a yummy, chunky bar to bite into.  But just one.  I wanted to be good on my diet, so I planned to give most of them away (and for once, I succeeded!!).

I thought I had written a blog post on these already -- I had definitely talked about them enough on facebook, but alas, there is no post here.

So, without much ado, but definitely much belated, here are these delicious (and easy!!) Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars!

Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars
From Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (heaping) creamy peanut butter (the original recipe says to skip homemade or natural since they're too runny, but I used Skippy natural and it worked just fine)
1 cup flour
1 cup peanut butter M&Ms, plus a few extra for the top
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chunks, or a combination (I used a mixture)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line an 8x8" pan with foil.
Spray foil-lined pan with cooking spray.
Set aside.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter.
I did mine on 30 second intervals, to make sure it didn't get too hot.
Let cool for a few minutes, so that you don't scramble the eggs when you add them.
Add the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Whisk until smooth.

Add the peanut butter, and with a whisk, incorporate until smooth.
Add the flour and stir until just combined, being sure not to overmix.
Add the add-ins (M&Ms, chips and chunks, and toffee bits).
Fold until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan.
With a spatula, smooth the top to make it flat.
Place a few of the peanut butter M&Ms on top, since it'll make them look extra pretty :)

Bake for about 24 minutes, or until the top is set.
Inserting a toothpick in the center is a good way to check -- it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.  If there is batter, they are undercooked and need to bake longer.
Allow them to cool in the pan for at least a half hour, before cutting them.

S'mores bar

So one of the things I debated doing for B's birthday party was a S'mores bar.  See, we had unfettered access to a grill, but didn't actually plan on grilling for the party.  We were going to be a big group and I didn't want B to be stuck grilling at his birthday party, I wanted him to be able to hang out with his friends.  But when in NYC do you have access to a grill?  I wanted to find a use for it...I was going to find a use for it!!

Enter the marshmallow!  Able to be perfectly toasted over a flame when there is a flame nearby.  And then why stop at plain marshmallows?  Why not make a few flavors?  Maybe some chocolate or berry flavored ones, or cinnamon, or coffee?  The possibilities were endless!

So I started with some plain vanilla marshmallows.  B loves all things vanilla, so that was a good place to start.  Plus, they're almost identical to store-bought marshmallows, but way more delicious!  Then I started thinking of some other flavors.  I thought about some fruity flavored marshmallows, but didn't know how they'd taste toasted, or even with chocolate and sandwiched between graham crackers.  Then I decided on some chocolate marshmallows.  But I thought that maybe I could come up with another flavor.  Coffee sounded great, so I decided on those.  But then I thought back to a peanut butter and jelly marshmallow I has seen in the past, and - while I thought fruity marshmallows wouldn't work for this - I thought that peanut butter marshmallows with melted chocolate and graham crackers did sound pretty awesome.  So I made a few varieties of marshmallows (1 more than I had planned to make), then bought a few flavors of graham crackers and chocolate bars, and set them up next to the grill for a s'mores making bar!

It was a huge hit!  My favorite was a regular graham cracker-cookies n' cream chocolate bar-coffee marshmallow combination!!!

Peanut butter marshmallows

Peanut Butter Marshmallows.  Fluffy, light, delicious, peanut butter-y marshmallows.  Again, in case you didn't catch it the first or the second time: peanut butter marshmallows!!!

I saw this recipe a while ago, before I had become a marshmallow making machine.  I adapted them from a peanut butter and jelly marshmallow recipe, and made it with my go-to marshmallow recipe.  Let me tell you something.  Sweet vanilla marshmallow mixed with slightly salty peanut butter makes for one delicious marshmallow.  Now, I'm just wondering if I should try a chocolate-peanut butter marshmallow.  OK, who am I kidding?!  I'll be working on that in no time!

Check out those amazing peanut butter ribbons throughout the marshmallow!!

This was it -- the fourth marshmallow recipe for me in about as many days.  Stay tuned for what I did with all these delicious marshmallows (besides eat them.....often.....by the handful).

Peanut Butter Marshmallows
Based loosely on these Peanut Butter and Jelly Marshmallows (which I will make soon, but didn't think went well enough with what I needed the marshmallows for this time around)

Ingredients:

1 cup water, at room temperature, divided
3 Tbsp plus 1.5 tsp unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

Marshmallow coating:

1.5 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup corn starch

Directions:

Spray a 9 x 9 inch pan with Pam, and line the bottom with parchment paper.  Feel free to spray the parchment paper with some Pam, too, since when I made the vanilla ones it stuck a little.

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, pour in half a cup of the water and sprinkle the gelatin over it.
Let it stand.

In a medium saucepan over high hear, stir together the water, corn syrup, sugar, and salt.
Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil.
Stop stirring and once the mixture comes to a rolling boil, continue boiling for one minute.
Remove from the heat (it helps to then pour the mixture into a 2-cup glass measuring up, to make it easier to pour the mixture.

Turn the mixer to low and mix the gelatin a bit to loosen it.
Very slowly and carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the bowl by pouring it gently down the side of the bowl.
Continue to mix on low until all the sugar mixture is added.

Turn the mixture to high and whip for 10-12 minutes until the marshmallow batter almost triples in size and becomes very thick.

Add in the vanilla and mix to incorporate.
Place peanut butter into a small bowl and add about 1/4 of the vanilla marshmallow mixture.
Quickly stir until well blended.
Scrape the peanut butter mallow back in the mixer bowl with the vanilla batter.
Gently fold the two batters together until mostly blended, using a large spatula.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and use a spatula or bench scraper to spread the marshmallow evenly in the pan, pushing it down into the corners.
Work quickly, as the marshmallow becomes more difficult to manipulate as it begins to set.

Spray a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with Pam and lay it across the top of the marshmallow, sprayed side down.
Using your fingers, smooth the plastic wrap on top of the marshmallows a bit to seal it smoothly and tightly against the marshmallows.

Leave the marshmallows to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours, or even better, overnight.

Mix together the confectioners sugar and corn starch.

When you're ready to cut the marshmallows, put a little bit of the corn starch mixture on a cutting board and flip the marshmallows onto the mixture.
Cut the marshmallows using a sharp knife or pizza cutter.  Or, use cookie cutters to make shapes.
Toss the cut marshmallows into the coating to cover, and then shake off the excess coating mixture using a strainer.
Place the marshmallows in a single layer in a pan, and then place waxed paper on top, and then continue layering marshmallows.
Store in an air tight container, for up to a week....if they last that long!

Peanut butter and jelly cupcakes

I had wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly cupcake for a while.  How I was going to execute it was the hard part.  Peanut butter cupcake with strawberry icing?  Strawberry cupcake with peanut butter icing?  Peanut butter cupcake filled with jelly and topped with peanut butter icing?  But then I came up with my Fluffernutter Cupcake (even I was pretty impressed with the end result!)....and as I was filling them with fluff I thought to myself "what if I used jam?  I bet those would make a pretty tasty peanut butter and jelly cupcake!"  And thus the execution of the peanut butter and jelly cupcake was perfected, and I had created another keeper!

Now I know that there's a debate out there about what kind of jelly should be used in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Let me tell you now - I love strawberry jelly and will not touch grape jelly at all.  Yes, if you are a grape jelly-lover, we can still be friends.  Just don't ever make me a PB&J sandwich.  I'm kidding....sorta.  But feel free to substitute whatever flavor jelly you prefer into your cupcakes (and, if it's other than strawberry, let me know how they turned out!).

The only thing that would make these cupcakes cuter would be a drizzle of strawberry jelly on top (I thought if that after the fact...).  I guess that's reason enough to make them again soon :)

Peanut Butter and Jelly (PB&J) Cupcakes

Cupcake idea by yours truly, each component listed with it's source

Yellow Cake Cupcakes

From SmittenKitchen (and featured on the blog here, here, and here -- to name a few)

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 Tbsp cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Jelly (flavor of your choice), for filling cupcakes [* if you are using grape or another flavor that does not have pieces of real fruit in it, skip the straining step below]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cupcake tin with liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. 

At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).

Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill the baking cups about 2/3 of the way full.

Bang the pan against the counter a few time to let out air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

* Prepare the jelly
While cupcakes are cooling, warm up your jam in a saucepan for a few minutes over low heat to loosen it.  
Strain into a bowl.
Allow it to cool before filling cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

From Robicelli's, found here

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and salt with a mixer set to high until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add heavy cream.

Once combined, taste for flavor.  I have never not added more peanut butter - I start with heaping Tablespoons until I find the desired peanut butteriness that I want.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Assembly

Once completely cooled, cut a small crater in the center of each cupcake with a small paring knife or very carefully with a melon baller (these cupcakes are very fragile).

Pipe some jelly (about 1-1.5 teaspoons) into the newly cut hole in the center.  

Allow the jelly to settle for a few seconds - you may need to refill it a little as it settles a little.

Using the piping tip of your choice (I used star for some and round for others), pipe icing onto filled cupcakes. 

Fluffernutter cupcakes

When we were kids, my friends had these sandwiches called "Fluffernutters" for lunch at school.  I was intrigued by them, and asked my mom if I could have one.  Turns out my mother didn't think marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwiched between two slices of white bread was a nutritious lunch, and we were "deprived" of fluffernutters as children.  I didn't even try marshmallow fluff until years later while at sleepaway camp (translation: mom wasn't there to see me try it).  But when I decided to bake some cupcakes to demo some decorating ideas (see "Background" below), I decided I'd play around with the idea of a fluffernutter....in a cupcake!  Enter my Fluffernutter Cupcake -- a yellow cupcake filled with marshmallow fluff, and covered in peanut butter buttercream!

Background: I've become a little obsessed with planning the perfect birthday party for B.  I spent the better part of my day off yesterday looking for cupcake decorations, decorating ideas for B's birthday cupcakes, and cupcake liners that go with my color scheme (I already decided what cake I'll be baking).  And yes, I realize that his birthday party is over 5 weeks away (37 days to be exact), but since I found the inspiration for the "headliner" cupcakes (on Pinterest, no less!), I figured I should try to practice the decorations in advance.  Since, you know, the week leading up to B's birthday party is insanely busy for me work-wise, and knowing myself I will have to have "all my T's crossed and my I's dotted" well before that week arrives (don't worry, the birthday party decorated cupcakes won't make it into this blog post....on the off chance that B looks at the blog...And because I need to keep some element of surprise!).  So on my day off I decided to bake up some cupcakes to decorate as a sort of test run for the birthday party.  Enter the Fluffernutter Cupcake!

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Cupcake idea by yours truly, each component listed with it's source

Yellow Cake Cupcakes

From SmittenKitchen (and featured on the blog here, here, and here -- to name a few)

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 Tbsp cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Marshmallow fluff, for filling cupcakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cupcake tin with liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. 

At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled).

Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill the baking cups about 2/3 of the way full.

Bang the pan against the counter a few time to let out air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

From Robicelli's, found here

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and salt with a mixer set to high until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add heavy cream.

Once combined, taste for flavor.  I have never not added more peanut butter - I start with heaping Tablespoons until I find the desired peanut butteriness that I want.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air.

Assembly

Once completely cooled, cut a small crater in the center of each cupcake with a small paring knife or very carefully with a melon baller (these cupcakes are very fragile).

Pipe some marshmallow fluff (about 1-1.5 teaspoons) into the newly cut hole in the center.  

Allow the fluff to settle for a few seconds -- you may need to refill it a little as it settles a little.

Using the piping tip of your choice (I used star for some and round for others), pipe icing onto filled cupcakes. 

Mini chocolate peanut butter pretzel cupcakes

Today is my dad's birthday!!  (I promised him I wouldn't share his age.)  My dad -- and mom, too -- is the greatest.  My sisters and I went home and the five of us went for dim sum, which is what my dad wanted to do to celebrate.  Dim sum -- if you don't know -- are basically Chinese small plates (often, but by no means always, dumplings) that are passed around the restaurant on carts, and you choose what you want as the cart passes your table.  It's a fun -- and delicious -- experience!

But I digress.  It's my dad's birthday.  Birthdays need to be celebrated (I'm still trying to convince B of this, as he has a big birthday coming up this summer).  Cupcakes (and cakes, or brownies, or pies, or anything baked and topped with a sprinkle) are celebratory.  So my dad got some homemade cupcakes for his birthday.

I wanted to try a new recipe for my dad's birthday, but he isn't a huge lover of sweets (my mom reminded me when I asked about baking cupcakes for his birthday, since she didn't want me to be "insulted" if he didn't eat much of whatever I baked).  When I was rattling off some suggestions, I mentioned these cupcakes, which I had baked before.  She stopped me immediately after by saying "yes, make those.  Your father would love anything peanut butter and chocolate."  And so, with apologies, I am repeating another recipe.  It's a good thing it's a FANTASTIC cupcake.  Although this time I mixed it up a bit, and make some mini cupcakes (full confession?  I got tired of filling those mini cupcake papers after a while, and made some full-sized ones, too, which I ended up bringing home for the celebration).

(Mini) Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes
From Robicelli's: A Love Story, with Cupcakes, found here

Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

3/4 cups cocoa powder (I used Dutch press cocoa for super dark, chocolatey cupcakes)

2/3 cups scalding hot coffee

2/3 cups buttermilk

2/3 cups canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Line cupcake pans with 24 liners.

Place cocoa powder in mixer bowl and pour scalding hot coffee over.

Mix on low speed until a thick paste forms and mixture stops steaming- about one minute.Like I said before, mine was not thick nor was it a paste, it was actually quite runny.  The cupcakes turned out perfectly deliciously well.

Turn mixer speed to medium.
In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk, egg, yolk, vanilla, salt and oil, and mix lightly with a fork, ensuring yolks are broken.

Slowly pour into mixer.

Stop mixer and scrape bottom well to loosen any caked on cocoa.

Reattach and turn mixer to medium, letting run one minute.

Stop mixer again.

Sift together dry ingredients and pour into wet mixture.

Mix on low speed until just combined.

Remove bowl and use scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring everything is mixed.

Scoop cake batter into prepared pans, filling cups 2/3 of the way.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through (I don't rotate them....shhh, don't tell).  * I baked my mini ones for 10 minutes *

Cupcakes are done when the centers spring back when you touch them.

Remove cupcakes from oven.

Let cool completely. 

Peanut Butter Buttercream:

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and kosher salt with a mixer set to "high" until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar a 1/4 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. 
Add heavy cream. 
Once combined, taste for flavor.  I added more peanut butter -- probably about 1/4+ cups.

Continue to beat on high for an additional minute to incorporate air. 

Classic Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup cream
pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Place chocolate in a bowl, and shake back and forth until it flattens out on top. 

Heat cream and sea salt in a medium saucepan until it comes to a boil (I forgot the salt.  Oops.  It was fine without it).

Immediately pour hot cream mixture over chocolate, and allow to sit for two minutes to allow chocolate to melt.

Using a heatproof spatula, stir the cream and chocolate together until completely smooth.

Allow to cool slightly before drizzling on cupcakes.

Ganache should not be hot to the touch, but still be liquid.

If it cools completely and becomes solid, microwave on 50% power in 20 second increments, stirring between each, until desired consistency is reached.

Toppings:

3/4 cups roasted peanuts

1 1/2 cup pretzels

Directions: 

Pulse pretzels and peanuts in a food processor until they're coarse crumbs.  (Alternately, place in a strong ziptop bag and repeatedly smack with a rolling pin, a heavy skillet, or anything else your find enjoyable. Place crumbs in a pie dish or baking pan.)

Assembly:

Fill pastry bag fitted with regular tip with peanut butter buttercream, and pipe onto each chocolate cupcake.  Since the icing is sweet, and my dad isn't a lover of very sweet things, I chose not to pile it up on the cupcakes as much as I did last time.  *Also, I couldn't find a regular tip and used another one.  Since the cupcakes are coated in the pretzel-peanut mixture afterwards, it doesn't really matter all that much which tip you use, but if you like the icing super-domed like it was when I made them last time, I'd recommend using the regular tip. *
Put cupcakes into the refrigerator so buttercream hardens- about 20 minutes.  Don't skip this step - my icing was pretty soft otherwise and I'm sure they wouldn't have been nicely domed afterwards.  BUT....don't keep them in for too long, otherwise they'll get hard and the toppings won't stick.

Gently roll the sides of the buttercream in peanut/pretzel mixture. 
Pour a handful over the top and lightly pack on with hand. Do NOT dip them top down into the bowl and press.  The icing isn't THAT hard.  You will flatten out the icing on the top of the cupcakes.  I learned that lesson after cupcake #1, and the rest of them looked perfect (if I do say so myself).
Shake off excess and set aside. 
Drizzle ganache across each cupcake.  I do this by placing them in a few rows on top of papertowels and drizzling both up and down and side to side on each row.